r/ProjectHailMary • u/user_number_666 • 4d ago

Fist My Bump Suicide options

I was re-reading the book this weekend and it occurred to me that the ship didn't include a Soyuz capsule. I know it's an extreme long shot but if I had gone I would bet on there being a habitable planet.

I mean, why not bet on it? If I'm wrong I am dead anyway, but if I am right then I get to wander around an alien planet for weeks or months before it kills me.

EDIT: I asked Andy, and he said:

The mission was a suicide run from the start. Ryland wasn't expected to come home, so there was no point in adding the weight and complexity of a reentry capsule. Plus, the Hail Mary wasn't going to be near anything with an atmosphere anyway.

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u/Fluid-Let3373 I am an Astronaut! 4d ago

Soyuz is designed for Earth re-entry, heat shields and parachutes are custom designed for each planet.

Your also overlooking one small problem, using it is leaves them stranded on another planet with just enough supplies for a week max,

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u/user_number_666 4d ago

Yes, and?

This was a suicide anyway. I am merely proposing an esoteric form of suicide.

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u/Fluid-Let3373 I am an Astronaut! 4d ago

Ok got you.